237-unit apartment complex planned near mall

The first housing development targeting the 2,000 soon-to-be workers at the new University Town Center mall is expected to begin construction within 60 days.

An Atlanta-based multifamily developer has applied for permits with Manatee County to build a 237-unit complex near the southern heart of Lakewood Ranch. The rentals are designed to feed workforce housing demands from the nearby hospital, Main Street retail and the new luxury shopping mall being built just two miles away.

The Venue at Lakewood Ranch will become just the third traditional apartment complex within the bounds of the master-planned community, and the first of what developers believe will be many housing developments to sprout around the shopping hub.

"We feel multifamily rentals are an important part of the mix," said Brian Kennelly, president and broker of Lakewood Ranch Commercial Realty, the commercial and multifamily arm of Lakewood Ranch developer Schroeder-Manatee Ranch Inc. "Certainly it will help our residents and retailers. It's vital."

The Venue will include three four-story buildings stretching over 11.15 acres of now-vacant land immediately north of the Lakewood Ranch Medical Center. Atlanta-based Davis Development bought the site from SMR in December 2011 for $3.4 million, records show.

Kennelly said the project is expected to break ground within 60 days and be complete 12 months later.

Rental prices have not yet been released.

"It has great access, that's the sleeper part of this," Manatee County planner Miles Gentry said.

"Of course, Lakewood Ranch Boulevard will give it the curb appeal, but the superior access will be Town Center Parkway, because that has several easy ways you can get to the traffic signals on University."

The Venue joins Colonial Grand, Lakewood Ranch's original apartment complex, and Lost Creek, the second development of its kind in the community.

Just north of State Road 70, the 272-unit Lost Creek apartments debuted in January 2012, and was fully leased within seven months -- a sign of the rental demand that has been building in the area. An expansion to Lost Creek also is now being planned.

The new multifamily developments come as construction is under way on the long-awaited University Town Center, which is expected to open by fall 2014. The $315 million, two-story, indoor shopping mall will house a total of 115 stores and six sit-down restaurants over 880,000 square feet along University Parkway near Interstate 75.

Benderson Development, which is partners with Michigan-based retail giant Taubman Centers Inc. on the mall, also is finalizing details of its own housing component.

That phase will include up to 1,700 condo-style housing units over the remaining 200 or so acres at the site.

Mark Chait, Benderson's director of leasing, previously said he plans to have at least 600 of those residences ready for the mall's opening. He declined to comment further on the details this week.

Real estate specialists in Lakewood Ranch believe apartments like the Venue are long overdue. They expect more to come to fruition as the mall, and its surrounding amenities, creep closer to completion.

"The mall will certainly be a part of it, but there's always been a strong demand for rentals in Lakewood Ranch," said Gloria Weed, managing broker of the Michael Saunders & Co. office in Lakewood Ranch. "It's something we definitely need."